Bound Away - a great piece of work
 

Bound Away - a great piece of work

By Chris Cooper Eric Brace writes damn fine songs. His band Last Train Home plays these songs pretty damn well,…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Schoolhouse Rock Growing up on mindless hours of Saturday morning cartoons, I never knew how much fun parts of speech…
Read More

Comment

Christmas reading: Some holiday ideas ranging from Christmas to religion in America
 

Christmas reading: Some holiday ideas ranging from Christmas to religion in America

This week letÕs peruse three unrelated books whose only commonality lies in the fact that they were either written by…
Read More

Comment

To Russia, with love: HART concludes season with Chekhov's The Three Sisters
 

To Russia, with love: HART concludes season with Chekhov's The Three Sisters

By Michael Beadle By the end of the 19th Century, the once powerful Russian aristocracy was crumbling, and playwright Anton…
Read More

Comment

Zoro's Field wins state non-fiction prize
 

Zoro's Field wins state non-fiction prize

Author Thomas Rain Crowe has been selected to receive the 2005 Ragan Old North State Award for his naturalist-based work…
Read More

Comment

Cell tower proposal splits White Oak neighbors
 

Cell tower proposal splits White Oak neighbors

Two Cingular cell towers proposed for the White Oak and Panther Creek communities - a rugged and rural part of…
Read More

Comment

Community activist faces embezzlement charges
 

Community activist faces embezzlement charges

A well-known Waynesville community leader has been charged with embezzling a $15,000 donation made to the Pigeon Community Development Club…
Read More

Comment

County declines to consider limits on construction noise
 

County declines to consider limits on construction noise

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jackson County residents will continue to suffer the bang and the clatter of a…
Read More

Comment

Dealing with strays a hit or miss affair in Swain
 

Dealing with strays a hit or miss affair in Swain

Every Monday morning, Justin Mack roles through the Swain County dispatch office to pick up a list of the week's…
Read More

Comment

Exhibit by artist Jesse Wills to benefit home for autistic individuals
 

Exhibit by artist Jesse Wills to benefit home for autistic individuals

Jesse Wills, a local artist who has autism, will present his paintings at an art show at Hardwood Gallery at…
Read More

Comment

The Language of Glass: World famous glass artist Joel Philip Myers  brings impressive exhibit to WCU Fine Arts Museum
 

The Language of Glass: World famous glass artist Joel Philip Myers brings impressive exhibit to WCU Fine Arts Museum

By Michael Beadle On pedestals they stand. Whimsical arrangements of colored glass bottles, leaning, bending to resemble animated statues caught…
Read More

Comment

CYHSY makes their own way
 

CYHSY makes their own way

By Joe Hooten Popular music is made trendy by sweaty handshakes, neon dollar signs, shady deals, and artificial relationships that…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Jack Russells I was surprised to discover that Jack Russell terriers bear the name of a 19th century English clergyman…
Read More

Comment

Superb acting highlights HART’s ‘Three Sisters’
 

Superb acting highlights HART’s ‘Three Sisters’

In The Three Sisters, Anton Chekhov tells audiences that suffering, education and work will lay the foundation for a new…
Read More

Comment

Triumph from tragedy: Franklin film student premiers ‘Tragedy of Glady’ to rave reviews nationwide
 

Triumph from tragedy: Franklin film student premiers ‘Tragedy of Glady’ to rave reviews nationwide

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The crowd held its breath, barely shifting in creaky metal chairs as a stunned,…
Read More

Comment

Lessons of war: Learning from the Spanish Civil War – the only time in history when Anarchists came to power
 

Lessons of war: Learning from the Spanish Civil War – the only time in history when Anarchists came to power

By Michael Beadle It’s no secret the “War in Iraq” is not going well. Even the most optimistic reports show…
Read More

Comment

Finding wetlands in the most unlikely places
 

Finding wetlands in the most unlikely places

As Mickey Henson waded into a brambly thicket bordering a town park in Sylva, he stopped a few steps in,…
Read More

Comment

In Forest Hills, the flip of a coin decides mayoral race
 

In Forest Hills, the flip of a coin decides mayoral race

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Forest Hills mayoral election came down to the flip of a coin Tuesday…
Read More

Comment

Haywood, Maggie Valley chambers reach out to each other
 

Haywood, Maggie Valley chambers reach out to each other

The boards of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and Maggie Valley Visitor Center and Convention Bureau met last week…
Read More

Comment

Seeing nature through new eyes
 

Seeing nature through new eyes

When Mickey Henson looks at a creek, he sees a physics equation.
Read More

Comment

Macon residents worried about devlopment
 

Macon residents worried about devlopment

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer A long-range study that analyzed perceptions about the mountain landscape among Macon County residents…
Read More

Comment

HCC has new president
 

HCC has new president

Dr. Rose Harrell Johnson, currently working for the Virginia Community College system, has been appointed president of Haywood Community College.
Read More

Comment

Requiem for a heavyweight
 

Requiem for a heavyweight

The eastern hemlock has long been one of my favorite trees. Like many people reading this column, my wife, Elizabeth,…
Read More

Comment

Contemplating the end of Eden
 

Contemplating the end of Eden

“At times I think there are no words But these to tell what’s true And there are no truths outside…
Read More

Comment

The job’s done, now it’s time to leave
 

The job’s done, now it’s time to leave

By Lee Shelton • Guest Columnist The U.S. recently incurred — and then quickly exceeded — the 2,000th casualty in…
Read More

Comment

Who’s dying in Iraq?
 

Who’s dying in Iraq?

Seventy-five percent of the deaths were active duty and 24.8 percent were National Guard or Reserves. Of these, 67.9 percent…
Read More

Comment

Paying the price – a parents’ weekend at WCU
 

Paying the price – a parents’ weekend at WCU

By Nancy Geiger • Guest Columnist I went to my first college parent’s weekend this month. I’d been to plenty…
Read More

Comment

Schools must help with obesity woes
 

Schools must help with obesity woes

It should come as no shock to learn that children in Western North Carolina, as in the rest of this…
Read More

Comment

Dealing with the struggles of keeping the Hemlock in WNC
 

Dealing with the struggles of keeping the Hemlock in WNC

The clock is ticking for hemlock trees in Western North Carolina.
Read More

Comment

A season of our own
 

A season of our own

Here’s a riddle for you. If the leaves turn in the mountains and there are no tourists to see them,…
Read More

Comment

New shelter near Max Patch ready for hikers
 

New shelter near Max Patch ready for hikers

A new Appalachian Trail shelter that can sleep 18 backpackers has been built in the Max Patch area of Haywood…
Read More

Comment

Taking it outside: The Balsam Mountain Trust offers nature hikes, outdoor seminars, workshops and research studies in a richly diverse tract of 4,400 acres in Jackson County
 

Taking it outside: The Balsam Mountain Trust offers nature hikes, outdoor seminars, workshops and research studies in a richly diverse tract of 4,400 acres in Jackson County

By Michael Beadle At first it sounds like a contradiction — a land developer interested in protecting the environment. Is…
Read More

Comment

Landslide death case ends in mistrial
 

Landslide death case ends in mistrial

A wrongful death lawsuit surrounding a landslide in Maggie Valley was declared a mistrial this week after a jury failed…
Read More

Comment

Wide variety of influences leaves sump’m for everyone
 

Wide variety of influences leaves sump’m for everyone

By Chris Cooper Let’s just go ahead and say it: terrible title for an album. Thankfully, a lot of the…
Read More

Comment

Lamotte’s work branches beyond music with non-profit
 

Lamotte’s work branches beyond music with non-profit

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer David Lamotte is a safe driver. Headed south to Columbus, Ga., last Friday afternoon…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

“Elizabethtown,” Soundtrack From everything I hear, the movie turned out to be entirely less than it was cracked up to…
Read More

Comment

Pottery, naturally
 

Pottery, naturally

By Greg Sessoms • Correspondent Upon entering Susan Balentine’s home off of Howell Mill Road in Waynesville, one could be…
Read More

Comment

Remembering the Civil War
 

Remembering the Civil War

This year marks 140 years since the end of the American Civil War. In that time a gigantic library of…
Read More

Comment

The body count keeps rising
 

The body count keeps rising

As of Nov. 20, the total number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom climbed to 2,083. Eleven more…
Read More

Comment

Choosing replacement puts board, director at odds
 

Choosing replacement puts board, director at odds

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer There was a showdown at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Fontana Regional Library Board.…
Read More

Comment

Finishing well: Canton native dies in a war he didn’t support for the country he did
 

Finishing well: Canton native dies in a war he didn’t support for the country he did

By Michael Beadle Michael Parrott wanted to be in Iraq. He told his wife Meg about it every Sunday morning…
Read More

Comment

Latest Ghost Town suitor eyes May 2006 opening
 

Latest Ghost Town suitor eyes May 2006 opening

The owner of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad has teamed up with a venture capitalist and an amusement operator to…
Read More

Comment

New laws should help curtail meth plague
 

New laws should help curtail meth plague

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Swain County Chief Deputy Jackie Fortner never thought he’d equate marijuana with more simple…
Read More

Comment

Trial forces widower to relive mountainside tragedy
 

Trial forces widower to relive mountainside tragedy

Almost two years ago, a retired couple from Florida was crushed in their home after the hillside behind their house…
Read More

Comment

Making use of natural surroundings
 

Making use of natural surroundings

When the Cherokees emerged as a distinctive culture more than a thousand years ago, they situated themselves so as to…
Read More

Comment

Pressure mounts to get out of Iraq
 

Pressure mounts to get out of Iraq

Many of us who call these mountains home rely on the isolation, the distance from the cold realities of modern…
Read More

Comment

Brothers in arms
 

Brothers in arms

Jacob, Luke and Ben Sutton were once considered renegade snowboarders at Cataloochee Ski Area.
Read More

Comment

Chickadee code cracked
 

Chickadee code cracked

Chickadee #1: Chick-a-DEE!-DEE!-DEE!-DEE!-DEE!-DEE!-DEE! Translation: There’s a sharp-shinned hawk behind you!
Read More

Comment

NOC founder inducted into Hall of Fame
 

NOC founder inducted into Hall of Fame

Payson Kennedy, co-founder of Nantahala Outdoor Center, was inducted into the inaugural class of the International Whitewater Hall of Fame…
Read More

Comment

Ranger Rick rappels into cave to rescue dog
 

Ranger Rick rappels into cave to rescue dog

Rangers with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park rappelled into a 70-foot underground cave last week to rescue a hunting…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.